Tag Archives: Ron DeSantis

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the Florida National Guard Friday night in response to possible protests this weekend at the state capitol. In an executive order, he directed the Guard’s commanding officers to coordinate with state and local enforcement to maintain peace in the state through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20. “Governor DeSantis …

The Hill reports: Eventbrite sites posing as local Florida health departments have reportedly targeted seniors in the state by charging money for fake vaccination appointments, prompting local health officials to issue warnings to residents Monday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued an executive order on Dec. 23 mandating that those 65 and older would be among the first people of …

CNN reports: Florida’s county-by-county plan to vaccinate its elderly population has created a mass scramble for a limited number of doses, leading to hourslong lines at vaccination sites and overwhelmed county hotlines and websites. The first-come, first-serve plan led to huge lines forming overnight Tuesday as people camped out on lawn chairs and waited for hours. Bruce Scott told CNN …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Fred Piccolo, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications director, has resigned from the governor’s office, a move he said was planned before he deleted his Twitter account shortly after his controversial Christmas Eve tweet about COVID-19 victims. Piccolo, who was named DeSantis’s chief spokesman in July, said he will move over to the state Department of Education …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida’s resident death toll from coronavirus rose to 21,135 with the addition of 140 more reported fatalities on Saturday, while also adding 17,042 more positive COVID-19 cases to bring the total to 1,264,588. With a population of about 21.5 million, about one in 17 people in the state have now been infected. That number is closer …

The New York Daily News reports: A spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis deleted his Twitter account Thursday after sending yet another controversial tweet about the coronavirus pandemic. Fred Piccolo responded to Reuters editor Corrine Perkins at around 4 a.m. Thursday, South Florida NPR affiliate WLRN reported. Perkins had shared a series of photos showing trauma at hospitals during the …

Changing America reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced divergent vaccine plans on Tuesday, saying that the Sunshine State’s elderly senior citizens will be the next to receive initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. But this next step breaks with CDC recommended protocol, which says in addition to those 75 and over, essential workers should receive the next doses. This …

From the South Florida SunSentinel editorial board: Putting the best possible spin on it, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a terrible communicator. Put more clearly, DeSantis is failing our state by hiding information, dodging questions and downplaying the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic as it escalates its deadly march across Florida. New infections in Florida this week matched the pandemic’s …

The Miami Herald reports: Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 13,148 additional cases of COVID-19, the most seen since mid-July. The state now has a total of 1,168,483 confirmed cases. Also, 101 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the statewide resident toll to 20,305. Florida has the third highest number of total confirmed cases in the country after Texas …

The South Florida SunSentinel reports: An astonishing pattern has emerged in Florida’s COVID death tally — one that suggests the state manipulated a backlog of unrecorded fatalities, presenting more favorable death counts in the days leading up to the 2020 presidential election. Florida quit including long-backlogged deaths in its daily counts on Oct. 24, 10 days before the Nov. 3 …

The Daily Beast reports: As states loosely align their own vaccine-distribution policies with broad guidance from the CDC, four highly vulnerable groups are competing for the first batches of vaccine: frontline health workers, elderly nursing home residents, workers in essential industries, and people of color. The problem: Florida health officials under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis are putting them …

The Independent reports: Two newspapers are suing Florida for allegedly suppressing information about the coronavirus pandemic in the Sunshine State. The Orlando Sentinel and its sister publication, the South Florida Sentinel, accuse the Ron DeSantis-led administration of violating freedom of information laws. Both titles claim officials have been burying weekly reports by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which make …

The Miami Herald reports: Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 11,699 more confirmed cases Friday, replacing Thursday’s case total as the most since July 25, and puts the state’s death toll at 19,977. On July 25, Florida reported 12,199 new cases, ending a run of nine of 11 days with five-figure new case totals. Friday makes five of the last nine days …

The South Florida SunSentinel reports: The state law used to justify a police raid at the home of a COVID-19 whistleblower suspected of accessing a Florida emergency messaging system without permission carries a stiff penalty: Up to five years in prison. That means Rebekah Jones, the Florida Department of Health data scientist fired in May for alleged insubordination, may be …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: State police brandishing firearms raided the home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health employee who built the state’s much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to “manipulate data.” Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger sent a statement confirming the seizure of computer equipment at Jones’s Tallahassee home …

Politico reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday told a private gathering of political donors and corporate executives that he has urged President Donald Trump to “fight on” to overturn November’s election results. In wide-ranging remarks made in person behind closed doors at a meeting of the Associated Industries of Florida, DeSantis dismissed the risks of the coronavirus, contradicted science …

The New York Daily News reports: The state of Florida recorded its 1 millionth COVID-19 case on Tuesday, becoming the third U.S. state to reach the ignoble mark since the pandemic began last winter. However, as the state approaches 20,000 coronavirus deaths, Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to refuse a statewide mask order or to close bars and restaurants. “Yes, we …

Click Orlando reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis today extended his executive order that bans local governments from enforcing mask mandate violations. The order, first signed in September, prevents cities from fining people for not adhering to mask mandates. It also prevents cities and counties from ordering restaurants to close without economic or health reasons being justified. The order signaled Florida’s move …

Orlando’s NBC News affiliate reports: Each vaccine requires two doses. If approved, the federal government anticipates having enough vaccine for 20 million Americans by the end of December, said DeSantis. DeSantis went on to say that millions of doses are ready to ship. Once the FDA approves the vaccine, they will ship within 24 hours. DeSantis expects Florida hospitals to …

The Miami Herald reports: When Gov. Ron DeSantis needed to hire a data analyst, his staff picked a little-known Ohio sports blogger and Uber driver whose only relevant experience is spreading harmful conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on the Internet. In his own words, Kyle Lamb of Columbus, Ohio, has few qualifications for the job at the state’s Office of Policy …